JPH06507988A - plotting device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] The present invention a drawing surface; a stylet that can be moved over the surface to simulate a drawn line; means for determining coordinates with respect to a certain reference of the stylet in the plane of the surface; To form or update a digital image by using stylet coordinates processing means connected to the coordinate determination means; means connected to the processing means for displaying the image on a screen; It relates generally to plotting devices of the type comprising.

In such known devices, the width of the generated line is determined by the width of the generated line. remains constant even if it is something like . This is especially true for creating shapes. is a major constraint. Because in this case, the image formed will have thick strokes. This is because it is impossible to obtain thin strokes.

Summary of the invention The present invention aims to overcome this drawback of the prior art.

Another object of the invention is to provide a user with the ability to Often allows us to go beyond small dimensions, yet is formed at the same time. The object of the present invention is to obtain a device that directly generates a drawing line on an image.

Yet another object of the present invention is to create thick strokes and thin strokes of drawn lines to be imitated. The object is to obtain a printing means that makes it possible to reproduce on drawings.

For this purpose, the means of determining the coordinates of the stylet are The means to determine the coordinates of the part and the direction vector of the stylet to be modeled. and means making it possible to determine the width of the drawn line. The present invention provides a drawing device of the type described above.

Other features, objects and advantages of the invention will be given by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings. as will be apparent from reading the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof. FIG. 1 is a perspective view and overall diagram of the drawing device of the present invention.

2 is a side view of a possible embodiment of a portion of the device of FIG. 1; FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a stylet forming part of the device of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the stylet shown in FIG. 3.

Figure 5 is a set of clocks showing the operation of the stylet and the means for determining its coordinates. It is a nogram [sic].

Figure 6 shows the imitated drawn line and the actual drawn line reproduced from the imitated drawn line. This shows the line.

FIG. 7 diagrammatically shows a plan view of a plotter forming part of the apparatus of the invention. .

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the fibrous drawing tip of the present invention.

9 is a horizontal sectional view of the drawing tip of FIG. 8. FIG.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The same or similar parts or elements in more than one figure Elements of are indicated by the same reference symbols.

Figure 1 shows a computer-aided drawing station, e.g. tion is represented.

It comprises a central processing unit 100. This central processing unit is a microprocessor. processor type processing means 110; random access memory 120; Other conventional equipment such as memory, input/output circuits, keyboards, etc. (not shown) ).

Central processing unit 100 is connected to display screen 200 . This display screen A high-quality color display intended to display the image formed, for example. Consists of a liquid crystal screen.

The rear projection device 300 projects an image existing on the screen 300 in half from behind it. It enables projection onto a transparent screen 400.

Translucent screen 400 includes a translucent active surface 402 surrounded by an opaque frame 404 Equipped with

Finally, the graphics device includes a graphics data acquisition device. This group The graphics data acquisition device includes a stylet 502 and a plane of the screen 400. and means 504 for detecting the position (x-y coordinates) of the stylet within. star Preferably, the eyelet is of a non-lead type.

The operation of the device of the present invention is generally as follows. Operator uses stylet 5 When a drawn line is imitated on the screen 200 with the help of 02, this drawn line changes at various times. to the central processing unit in the form of a set of x-y coordinates of the position of the stylet at each moment. Supplied.

This simulated drawn line is stored in memory by the central processing unit, and the drawn line is stored on the screen 20. Used in real time to create or update images displayed on 0. child The updating of the image is performed on the semi-transparent screen via the rear projection means 300. As the artist executes the drawn line, he changes the appearance of the corresponding actual drawn line to this drawn line. It is reproduced so that it can be observed as a completely superimposed line on the drawn line.

Of course, the position detection device 500, the central processing unit 100, and the rear projection means is configured to ensure said superposition. In particular, the device 500 performs central processing. The numerical value of the coordinates sent to the processing device 100 is the basic motion in the corrected coordinates. The process determines the basic image elements of the image formed on the translucent screen 400. vertical and horizontal direction of the stylet 502 over a distance equal to the corresponding dimension of the element. Corresponds to motion in the square direction. For example, if the resolution of this device is on the order of 1 liter, can be done. That is, it is formed on the screen 200 and then The pixels of the image projected onto the lean 400 have vertical dimensions on the order of 1 cm and vertical and horizontal dimensions of the stylet that span this same distance. It is possible to make the movement in the direction cause a change of only 1 in the corrected coordinate information. can.

The central processing unit can be any suitable graphics workstation or computer. It can be configured by a microprocessor. For example, Intel 80386 Personal computer 1 computer based on type or more powerful type allows high-quality graphics images to be updated in real time. this place In this case, the display on the screen 200 can be generated according to the VGA standard. .

The working area 402 of the translucent screen 200 may be made of any translucent material or at least It can also be comprised of a stack of materials, one of which is a translucent material. Especially half It is possible to use transparent glass, translucent plastic, paper or fabric.

Translucent plastic or glass of the kind used in the field of photography or film It is best to use a platform (slide viewer, editing desk, etc.).

A wide range of devices are available for determining the X and Y coordinates of the stylet. You can choose from various technologies.

The first family of devices detects multiple ultrasonic waves emitted by the stylet. It consists in measuring the propagation time along the path towards the vessel or in the opposite direction. Details of this European Patent Application Publication No. 0.233.472, French Patent Application Publication No. 0.233.472, European Patent Application Publication No. 2.574,947 and European Patent Application Publication No. 0.312.481. Please refer to the specification. The contents of each of those published patents are shown here for reference. Included in the description.

Another known technique consists in using light beams. In the first case, the beam fired by a tielet (in particular, French Patent Application Publication No. 2.650.90) 4 and European Patent Application No. 1.202.468), its position is C It is detected by a detector such as a CD (charge coupled device) type sensor.

In the second case, one or more beams are directed into this area from the edge of the working area. The presence of the stylet in this area causes the image to be projected. That will happen. Its position representing the same position of the stylet is detected (European special Patent Application Publication No. 0.125.068, Publication No. 0.279.652, Publication No. 0.12 No. 1,840 and No. 0.221,712).

Yet another technique is the acoustic shock wave obtained by e.g. generating a spark discharge. occurs at the stylet, and stylet and microphone detection. The time it takes for those shock waves to travel between a detector with a piezoelectric cell, for example, can be measured. The purpose is to determine the U.S. Patent No. 3,838,212, U.S. Patent No. 3.821.492 issue.

3,626,483, 3,821,469 and 4,012,5 No. 88 discloses this technique. In the example shown in Figure 1, , it is this solution that is adopted, and the stylet 502 generates a shock wave. Reference 504 includes means for measuring the propagation time of waves along the X and Y axes. Ru. Two linear microphone detectors are shown.

Further, for example, European Patent Application Publication No. 0.254゜297, European Patent Application No. 0.259, No. 841 and No. 0. As stated in each specification of No. 307.893 , information representing the state of the stylet or the parameters of any line drawn. using means for emitting/receiving in the radio frequency domain to send from Is possible.

The respective contents of each of the above published patents are included in this description for reference.

More specifically, the pulsating or pulsed signal emitted by the stylet is It is advantageous to use an xy coordinate determination device which is preferably employed. Especially this This can be an optical signal, a radio frequency signal, an acoustic (sound or ultrasound) signal . Furthermore, the connection code, or lead, which traditionally constituted a constraint for users, It is advantageous to select a device that uses a stylet without a cord.

One possible embodiment of a device for back-projecting an image onto a translucent screen then will be explained with reference to FIG.

In this case, a high quality color display liquid crystal screen 200 is used. This school The lean is fixed to the surface of a conventional rear projection device of the type comprising a casing 302. Ru. The casing 302 includes a light source and a screen provided on the top of the casing. A focused beam of light that carries an image to be displayed on mirror 200 is directed toward reflector 304. A lens system is included. The tilt of the reflector can be adjusted, and the image can be reproduced through transparency. be done.

Reflector 304 reflects this image toward the rear of semitransparent screen 400 . art Allows the artist to work under the same conditions as in front of the easel. to make it so In addition, it is preferable that the screen 400 be positioned at a slight angle with respect to the vertical.

Because the orientation of the screen 400 is not perpendicular to the center direction of the incident beam To avoid possible parallax error problems, the rear A screen 200 can be placed on top of the casing of the projection device.

Of course, any other configuration of the rear projection device is also conceivable. In particular, the main equipment can be transported more easily. In order to 00, rear projector 300, and translucent screen 400 articulated and folded. They can be interconnected in a soldering manner.

In all of the above x-y coordinate determination devices, the drawing destination of the stylet 502 is Only the positions of the edges are detected in the plane of the working area. An important accompanying aspect of the invention According to the authors, there is a method for detecting not only the position of the tip of the stylet but also the orientation of the tip. There are steps. Therefore, at least an oblique or elongated cross section On the other hand, if an artist wishes to create shapes with variable width at the drawing tip, In order to perfectly simulate the It is necessary to know the time.

To this end, with reference now to FIGS. 3 and 4, stylet 502 has two It includes two separate signal emitters or transducers 5021 and 5022.

The ejector 5021 imitates one end of an elongated drawing tip, and the ejector 5022 is a ejector. The straight line segment connecting 5021 and 5022 defines the direction vector of the stylet. and be positioned. For example, use this vector as the drawing tip with a long and narrow cross section. It can be aligned with its main axis, which is the part of the body.

In this case, the means for determining the X coordinate and the y coordinate are the coordinates of the launcher 5021 and the launcher 5022 coordinates.

For example, when stylet 502 is clocked by appropriate lock 5024. On the other hand, a radio device consisting of a transmission/modulation circuit 5025 and an antenna 5026 two frequency signal generators and, on the other hand, an acoustically transmitted signal emitter 5027; The two sources of the signal are composed of transducers 5021 and 5022. The stylet 502 is provided with a microcontroller 5023 or the like that controls the gun. is possible. Those transducers are, in this case, spark discharge devices, voltage It can be composed of electric cells or the like.

Next, the operation of this device will be explained with reference to FIG. This diagram shows the stylet The radio frequency signal emitted by the stylet, the acoustic signal emitted by the stylet, and the The radio frequency signal received by the receiving section 504 of the section 500 and the The acoustic signal received by the microphone sensor for detecting the target position and the Sound received by the microphone sensor to detect the y-coordinate position of 504 The signals are shown sequentially from top to bottom.

At time 10, the microcontroller 5023 causes the emitters 5025.5026 to A radio frequency synchronization signal shown as SEO in FIG. 5 is emitted. Next, the micro system The controller emits the first acoustic signal SEL after the time interval T and after the time interval T2. by the second transducer 5022, the second sound indicated by SF3 Emit the sound signal SEI. The interval TT between them is predetermined 1ゝ　2 is fixed and known by the microcontroller 5023.

The receiver 504 determines the time by, for example, triggering a suitable digital counter. electromagnetic waves to form the received synchronization signal SRO used to start the measurement. Due to the inherent very fast propagation, the receiver receives the signal SEO almost instantaneously.

The microphone X position sensor is and the time delayed by T (SRI, 2X in SR2 The signal shown) [sic] receives the acoustic pulse SEI, SF3, and the microphore The x position sensor receives an acoustic pulse at x. Those delays are counted above Determined internally by the microprocessor depending on the operation.

The coordinate x1 of the transducer 5021 indicates that the acoustic signal is the transducer of the stylet. It is obtained from the time traveling between the duuser 5021 and the X position sensor. its coordinate y 1 is similarly determined from the measured propagation time T - T It will be done.

The coordinates xy of the transducer 5022 are 2° 2 during propagation Similarly determined from the interval T - T T - T 2X 2ゝ 2y 2 Ru.

The data is transferred to the device 500 at a suitable rate, for example, several hundred to several thousand times per second. obtained by.

For each coordinate pair X and y x and y, device 1 1 22 500 or a central processing unit 100 (preferably a central processing unit) A direction vector Vo of the let is constructed. The coordinates of that vector are (X 2 ．． equal to or proportional to 72-yl).

The central processing unit was taken to represent the end of a drawing device with an elongated cross section. , a series of coordinates (xy) of the center point of the sty μ-soto by the artist and related to this point. 1　″　1 A pattern drawn on the screen 400 in the form of a series of coordinates of a direction vector to Save the line. In other words, the various components of the image are stored in vector mode. Ru.

In order to display this drawn line on the screen 400 in real time, vector It is calculated from each position of Vo and each position of the vector tangent to the generated drawn line.

This tangent vector is, for example, the current coordinates X and y of the tip 5021 and 1 1 determined just before at the tip It can be obtained by simple difference from the coordinates.

The width of the drawn line is, for example, between the current direction vector and the current tangent vector. can be obtained by using the scalar product of

FIG. 5 shows lines drawn in imitation. The line is drawn by the user. Depending on the uniformity of the speed, multiple coordinates (x, y) and bi1'1 It is related to the direction vector V. Direction vector associated with tangent vector VT The angle between is denoted by α.

A drawn line that is displayed parallel to this drawn line is shown. its width l changes increasingly as a function of the value of the angle α, and for a given value when this angle is equal to 90 degrees Take the maximum value of .

Of course, the synchronization signal and positioning signal emitted by the stylet 502 Both can send other drawn line parameters.

In this way, the stylet allows the user to select one of the widths of the drawing tip to be imitated. A switch (reference numeral 5028 in FIG. 3) may be included to allow selection from can. The device 5 determines the maximum width that a drawn line formed on the image can have. In order to instruct the central processing unit 100 via the receiving unit 504 of the Radio frequency or acoustic signals generated by the stylet to position the switch can be encoded into For example, the width of the drawing tip to be imitated, for example, 5 ■We can provide 3 position switch 5028 corresponding to 8mm, 1211%. It is Noh.

The signal emitted as a function of the switch position can be encoded by any suitable signal. can be done. For example, for radio frequency signals, the Frequency can be selected. It is also possible to frequency modulate the signal. . Alternatively, the same type of processing can also be applied to the acoustic signal.

Additionally, at least one of the radio frequency signal and the acoustic signal may be associated with other drawn line parameters. It can also convey information related to data. For example, if the stylet is A load sensor is used to generate an analog electrical signal representing the force applied to the 400 surface. A sensor (advantageously a piezoelectric load sensor) can be provided. This signal is conveying in a signal emitted by a let, preferably by modulation; Can be done. This signal is the beginning of the line drawn (where the detected pressure goes from zero to a non-zero value). ) and conversely, it can also be used to detect the end of a drawn line. can.

various densities on at least one of the rear-projected image and the printed image. as a function of the pressure exerted by stylet 502 on screen 400. It is advantageous to use pressure information for this purpose.

Parameters such as the shape of the imitated drawing tip, the width of the drawn line, the color of the drawn line, etc. The meter can be selected by the user. To do this, press the push button. It can also be provided on the tile. For example, by sequentially pressing such pushbuttons with your finger By pressing the top of the screen in a frame specially provided for this purpose. It can be used for. Various colors can be displayed.

As indicated above, the light beams backscattered onto the screen 400 by the apparatus of the present invention The image is updated in real time as a function of the drawn lines that are imitated directly on this screen. Can be renewed. The apparatus also includes means for printing the generated image. You can Of course, conventional types of color printers can also be used. Ma Furthermore, it is also possible to use a drawing device that has compatible drawing tools.

FIG. 7 shows such a drawing device 600. According to the invention, the felt tip A drawing tool 602, which can be an end drawing tool, is mounted on the support 604.

The support can rotate around an axis perpendicular to the plane of the drawing device, and is powered by a suitable motor 6. It can be driven by 06.

The rotation of this motor is controlled by a controller 608 that receives information from the central processing unit 100. More controlled. Accurately align the stylet orientation, determined as follows: To convey the direction to the drawing tool regarding the tangent of the generated line to be drawn. , as a function of successive directional vector information items stored in memory 120. The drawing tool 600 and the drawing tool 602 are rotated.

In this way, changes in width can be applied to the drawing sheet on the paper medium placed on top of the drawing device. The simulation is played back and is played back in real time during the backscattered image. Accurately follows width changes caused by changes in stylet orientation during do.

8 and 9, a fibrous tip 700 for a drawing tool is shown. This tip is It is elongated and rectangular in cross section and has a double beveled end and a second end 702. do.

A low point protruding below the interfacing portion 701 to which the portion 701 is fixed. (solid line) and the higher position where part 702 is alternated with respect to part 701. , the second part of which is sheathed so that it can slide vertically with respect to the first part. (not shown).

Portion 702 occupies only the thickness of the tip, in this case half of this thickness. This is observed in FIG. It is also observed that the movable part 702 has a trapezoidal cross section. be noticed. Of course, other cross sections are also conceivable.

The tip 701 has a first predetermined width, for example, 5-581 mm or 12 m5; The tip 702 has a sufficiently small average width, eg, 1 mm.

With this configuration, when the tip 702 is at a high position, the width of the tip is not limited. Since there is no continuous part, a wider width is drawn by the fixed tip 701. It is possible to generate lines with uniform color density.

When the tip 702 is in a lower position, a much thinner drawn line can be generated. Can be done.

The position of movable part 702 is determined by central processing unit 100 by suitable electromechanical means. (magnet, etc.). To be more precise, it is provided in the stylet. from a type of switch, such as switch 5028, to the central processing unit. The drawing edge width information supplied as described above is stored in the image memory of the central processing unit. 120 and select the movable portion 702 to obtain the width that is set at the tip. Added to the drawing device for selective lowering or raising.

Of course, the invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and illustrated. , a person skilled in the art can make any changes thereto according to its gist.

In particular, it applies not only to the above-mentioned rear projection devices, but also more generally to graphics applied to any graphics drawn line acquisition device such as a tablet. Ru.

Additionally, the present invention provides a means for users to create or modify images with large dimensions. I can do it. It is advantageously applied in all cases where this must be done. This is teaching Any drawing device or tool for presenting variable information for educational or other uses. It can also be

Especially when projecting images that are fixed, such as slides or still video images. It is possible to provide a rear projection device or a second rear projection device for Then, in order to "create" contours etc. on the fixed image, and to process them centrally. A stylet is used for storage in the storage device 100. This aspect of the invention For example, if you have problems making images appear on your computer monitor, It is unnecessary to perform a point-by-point extrapolation (“scanning”) of the image; Just projecting it back to 0 is sufficient.

Claims (13)

[Claims] 1. a drawing surface (400); a style that can be moved over a surface to imitate a drawn or drawn line (502) and determine the coordinates of the stylet in the plane of the surface with respect to some reference. means (500) for To form or update a digital image by using stylet coordinates processing means (100) connected to the coordinate determination means; means (300) connected to the processing means for displaying said image on a screen; and In a type of drawing device equipped with, The means (500) for determining the coordinates of the stylet is configured to determine the coordinates of the stylet tip. A means for determining coordinates (5021) and a direction vector (V0) of the stylet. and means for determining the width of the drawn line to be imitated. A drawing device featuring: 2. 2. An apparatus according to claim 1, comprising means (5) for determining the coordinates of the stylet. 00) is the distal end (5021) of the stylet and the offset with respect to this distal end. means (5022) for emitting a pulsating or pulsed signal from a point (5022) 021, 5022, 5025 to 5027), the coordinates and the direction vector (V 0) of at least one parameter of the received pulsating or pulsed signal. a receiver provided in the area of the edge of said surface (400) to determine as a function a stage (504), and the direction vector is determined by the direction vector of the tip (5021). determined as a function of the shifted coordinates and the determined coordinates of said shifted point (5022). A device characterized by: 3. 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the emitting means is an acoustically propagated signal. between the means for firing the signal, the tip and, on the one hand, the offset point of the stylet. , on the other hand, during the acoustic propagation of the acoustically propagated signal between the receiving means and means for synchronizing the emitting means and the receiving means for the purpose of measuring the distance between and means for emitting line frequency waves. 4. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the processing means (100 ) is a means (120) for storing the imitated and drawn lines in vector mode. A device characterized by comprising: 5. 5. The device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the stylet includes: a pulsating signal generated as a function of at least one plotted parameter; For this [sic] supplied with means (5028) for performing at least one of the following; The received pulsating signal is combined with coordinate information and one or more drawn line parameters. means for jointly analyzing and/or demodulating the information representing the data. A device characterized by: 6. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the drawn line parameters are The color of the line, the width of the drawn line, the contact pressure of the drawn line, and the stylet tilt. A device selected from the group consisting of tilting and rotating. 7. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the stylet is a drawing destination of the stylet. a pulsating signal so as to cause various waves to be emitted by said means according to the simulated width of the end; a switch forming a simulated tip width selector connected to the means for firing the signal; switching means (5028), the width of which is fixed by the position of the switching means; A device characterized by: 8. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the processing means a computer (10) equipped with means (20) for storing quality digital images; 0), and the display means displays the digital image on a translucent screen (400). comprising means for projecting, and the drawing surface constitutes the translucent screen. A device featuring: 9. 9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the size of the working area of the translucent screen is controlled. Apparatus characterized in that it is provided with variable masking means for limiting. 10. 10. Apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the image is transferred to a physical medium. further comprising means (600) for printing on the body, the printing means comprising: Controlled by processing means, lines of different widths can be generated as a function of their orientation a drawing device including at least one drawing tool (602); a means for processing the orientation of said tool; means (604) for changing the direction determined by as a function of the vector (V0); , 606, 608). 11. 11. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the drawing device is an ink fountain or a pen. at least one drawing tool including a fibrous tip (700) fed from a reservoir; and the fibrous tip is fixed to the body of the drawing device in at least two parts, namely one portion (701) to be projected and selectively projecting beyond this first portion. another portion (70 2), and this second part with respect to the first part, the simulated destination received from the processing means. and means for moving as a function of end width. 12. 12. The device of claim 11, wherein the first portion (701) of the fibrous tip ) has an elongated cross-section and includes long side edges, and the second portion (70 2) has a thickness smaller than the distance between the long edges. device to do. 13. 13. The device of claim 12, wherein the second portion (702) of the tip with respect to the first part so as not to contribute to the protruding position or to the drawn line. An apparatus characterized in that the device is moved to a shifted position.